Rats inside my engine compartment...

longboy

longboy

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I opened my bonnet earlier to refill the windscreen wiper water and check oil levels.

I was greeted with the unsavoury sight of a lot of rat droppings lying inside. I usually park the car off for a few days per week and do not use it much. There are rats living nearby in the local stream close to home. I park the car in an enclosed area in the outside since I don't have a garage in my flat.

What can I do to keep these critters away? I don't want my wiring chewed and other nasty surprises!
 
Get rid of 'em! My sister left her Chrysler Voyager standing for a while, at their farm. When it came to starting it, lots of erratic electrical problems appeared. Investigation showed rats had chowed the wiring harness. Not easy or cheap to replace.
 
Rat poison. Get rid of them sooner rather than later.



Went to Dubai two years ago and left my car parked at home for two weeks. Got back and had to replace all the wiring in the engine bay, loom and fuse box. Critters ate through most of the wire. Would have cost R30k to fix and insurance does not cover rodent damage. Ended up trading the car in as is.
 
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Shaun108 said:
I opened my bonnet earlier to refill the windscreen wiper water and check oil levels.

I was greeted with the unsavoury sight of a lot of rat droppings lying inside. I usually park the car off for a few days per week and do not use it much. There are rats living nearby in the local stream close to home. I park the car in an enclosed area in the outside since I don't have a garage in my flat.

What can I do to keep these critters away? I don't want my wiring chewed and other nasty surprises!
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Can you see if there's a hamster wheel in there? Don't want to kill the engine. Lol
 
Shaun108 said:
Inside the engine compartment? Won't it just drop off when i start travelling?
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No man. You get enclosed bait traps which have a hole they can enter. You leave it near your car. You see them outside shopping centres everywhere.
 
Shaun108 said:
Inside the engine compartment? Won't it just drop off when i start travelling?
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If there are no other animals that will eat it, drop a few pellets under the car where you park it at night. Or get a few of those black poison boxes and stick then under your car at night.
 
Get Finale Rat and Mouse Wax Blocks.

You can fasten them to a piece of wire inside your bonnet or near were you park.
This helped me kill the rats after they did a couple of thousand Rand worth of damage to my vehicle.:mad:
It's crazy how much damage freaking rodents can do to a vehicle.
Rats and their excrement and urine stink and YOU DON'T WANT A DEAD RAT IN YOUR CARS AIR DUCTS!
Kill them ASAP.

Also "boereraat" that the garage told me when I had the damage fixed was to cable tie Sta-Soft refill pouches inside my bonnet. (Fastened near the air ducts to keep rats away from there) Have been driving around like this for 3 years and each time I get my water and oil checked at the fuel pumps the attendant looks confused and ask why I have Sta-Soft pouches under my bonnet.

Have not had rat of mouse trouble again.:)
 
Just an interesting thing I heard quite recently after rats chewed through some wires in my SO's car. Apparently some of the cheaper electrical wires makes use of corn starch as a lubricant inside the plastic outer when they manufacture the wires. This is what the rats are after.
 
Thank god they didn't chew anything, there's just a whole bunch of big droppings that I cleaned out. I inspected it thoroughly earlier and am going to get some good poison and mothballs.
 
My flipping cat does not chase the flipping mouse. Chases all the bird and kills them, chases the skinks and kills them. Not the damm field mouse.
 
These rats are soo irritating cause damage.
While servicing the car i realized that the one plug wire was getting eaten away by a rat and this morning as i was going to the car.

I saw one running away from the car and realized that i have a problem on my hands.

What do i do.
 
Ninja'd said:
Maybe the car came with rats. You should email the manufacturer about it.
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Be sure to mention the height of your car. Have you ensured that the rats will be able to survive a sufficient amount of time drinking only their own piss?
 
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